About
Jun 22nd, 2009 by Don Harris
I first experienced Spain when I stepped ashore as a young US Navy chaplain in 1965. Eight years later, My and wife Ruth and I raised our young family among the sherry bodegas of El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz) while I was stationed at the Base Naval de Rota. As we enjoyed life with our three sons in a Spanish neighborhood, we grew to appreciate the personal dimension of Spanish life where children are cherished, and family ties are central. Although we have lived in many places since that time, we always found a common bond in our love of Spanish culture. Over the past forty-plus years, my family and I have covered just about every nook and cranny of Spain and met lots of people, enjoying many a meal with newly made Spanish friends. Now that our sons are grown and we are back home in Williamsburg, Virginia, we have carried that appreciation into the formation of Latienda.com, a family business started in 1996. Our goal is to share with our neighbors a taste of Spain – as well as her grace, warmth and traditions, which have brought so much to our lives as a family. We travel to Spain frequently, renewing friendships with those who provide us with their fine products, as well as finding new and interesting artisanal items. This blog is an extension of that mission, as I discuss some of the wonderful people, tastes and traditions that make Spain such a fascinating and appealing culture.
You can read a more in-depth post about my love affair with Spain here.
I wish that I had found you sooner! It’s a small Navy, Mr Harris. I was stationed in Rota from 1969 to 1976, got married and two daughters were born there. Returned for another tour in 1982. We’ve always searched for Spanish foods and this year (finally) Googled..”polvorones” and found your great site. What a treat for my daughters and I to taste polvorones and mantecados at Christmas again. Even more enjoyable was indoctrinating my grandchildren into some Spanish culture.
Thank you for your great service and products.
A Shipmate
K.A. Petrousek
Thank you for another fantastic blog. Where else could I get this kind of information written in such an incite full way? I have a project that I am just now working on, and I have been looking for such information¡ Regards¡
I am glad you found something of use to you. As you know, I love Spain and have accumulated a lifetime of information about her and her culture. I will be publishing a book in the fall called The Heart of Spain. Don
My dad was stationed in Rota when he met my mom and they were married in Rota in 1969. I lived there as a child and all my mom’s side of the family are in Rota and we travel there every now and then and visit. I just returned from a two week trip there a couple days ago. I feel very attached to Rota and Spain and I love that you have a store like La Tienda.
God bless,
Paul
Hola Paul, How nice to hear from you.
My wife Ruth and I were in Rota twice this year because our eldoest son Tim and his family lived in Puerto. Their two boys went to school for a semester in Jerez and picked up a little Spanish (including some racy slang from their schoolmates).
By all means introduce yourself to me the next time you are in the store in Williamsburg. I am usually there Wednesday through Saturday morning. Other wise I am in Toano where our offices are.
Abrazos mi amigo,
Don
Don,
Congratulations on your book. My wife, Araceli, and I have been La Tienda customers for quite a few years and certainly enjoy being able to purchase those “tastes of Spain” that keep our souls nourished. Since you love Spain (as I do) I thought you might be interested in a site (blog) with which I have recently become a part. The site is called “Toledo Olvidado” and is dedicated to the history, mostly in photographs, of Toledo. The enormous collection of photographs and information has been compiled by Eduardo Sanchez Butragueno and it contains over 5000 historic and very interesting photographs from the 19th and early 20th century. Since I lived in Toledo during the 1960′s and was an avid amateur photographer, I contacted Eduardo to see if he could use some of my photographs. Not only was he delighted to use them but also wrote a very, very nice biography to go along with the photos. You can see them at:
http://toledoolvidado.blogspot.com/2010/04/el-alma-de-toledo-capturada-por-john.html
Anyway, thanks so much for La Tienda and all the wonderful things that you have done to enrich our lives.
Regards, John
Thank you, my friend
What a fascinating link you provided to Toledo! Of course i have been there many times over the years but will look at it with new eyes. We plan to spend Easter there in 2011.
Don,
I’m so glad I found your site and blog. We are a military family stationed in Madrid. We go down to Rota a few times a year for our big commissary runs. We love Spain! I have a blog about our experiences here… http://www.SpainIsMyHappyPlace.com …I love finding other people who love Spain and write and talk about it. I will be keeping up with you and your site. I haven’t finished exploring, but I love what you have done…my friend and I have often talked about how we could come back, maybe fly Space-A back over to Rota and spend a few weeks each year travelling all over Spain. Again, glad I ran across your site!
Hi, as you can say by my name, I’m Italian. I found your site via Yahoo, I’m looking for source on this subject since I want to write a similar post on my blog. Would you mind if I translate in Italian part of your page, giving in exchange credits and a backlink? Let me know!
Of course, Lavoro. I would be pleased if you wanted to translate some of the article in Italian. Send me a like when you do, I’d love to see it. Don
Dear Mr. Harris, thank you so much for your fabulous website. I studied abroad in Spain for 3 months and absolutely loved it! I am so excited to see that you carry “La Toja” soaps. Amazing product!!! Thanks so much for the awesome blog!
In Christ,
Georgina
Thank you very much, Georgina. It is amazing how lastingly emotive scents are! I can recall the aromas of La Toja and Heno de Pravia all the way back 45 years! And what pleasant memories they bring!
Don
PLEASE, please, please plant and sell gernika peppers- they are FAR superior to the padron peppers you have. Again, PLEASE!
Dear Sam,
We have guindilla peppers from the Basque country. I think you might like them as they are from the same area as the town of Guernica. I prefer them too.
Are you from the Basque country? We had a student staying with us this summer from a little town near Zarautz. His family produces the great Nardín bonito hand caught in the Cantabrian Sea.
Saludos,
Don
Dear Kolo,
Thank you for your message. Any purchasing is done through our representative Jamie Jones through our office in Zarautz. Please contact him at jamie@tienda.com.
Saludos Don